New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 881  Negotiating A Deal

Alex was on his sofa, looking at the chaos that had ensued before he burst into laughter.

His phone vibrated in his ear, and he picked up the call, putting it on speaker.

"Where were we?" Katherine\'s voice came over the speaker.

"Katherine, you are insane! Ahahahahaha! That was amazing! Oh man, the look on her face! I would pay to see this again," Alex hollered, holding his stomach as he laughed.

"I\'ve got the footage if you have the money. But that isn\'t why I called you back," Katherine said, a tinge of pride in her voice.

Kary looked at Alex and thought he was overreacting. But she was also glad that Constantine Levesque got her just deserts.

"Then why did you call?" she asked, as Alex was still laughing his ass off.

Katherine audibly sighed as she heard Alexander laugh like a maniac in the background.

"Can you get him to stay quiet for half a second? Or should I start the sprinklers in your home to cool him off?"

Alex heard the threat, and his face instantly went serious.

"I\'m good. What did you want?"

"Finally," Katherine sighed.

"I was flagged from a conversation you had this morning. And I believe I have an answer for you."

Alex frowned for a second.

"What conversation?"

Kary was already going pale.

"Don\'t play coy, young man. You know which conversation. Do you want my answer or not?"

"Did you bug my phone? No, that\'s impossible… Those conversations were private…" Alex complained. Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

"Tch! Nothing is private from me, Mr. Leduc. Listen, I don\'t know as much as you do about the situation going on around the world, but I have enough pieces here and there to come to my own conclusions.

"Now, I\'m sure my husband will say no if you ask for his help, especially since you want to bring Violette. But I will be honest: I\'ve seen videos and heard audio recordings of things that terrify me and haunt my dreams at night.

"I don\'t think saying no to you benefits anyone. And I know this makes me a terrible mother, but Violette will be allowed to come with you. On the condition you assure me she never is in a life-threatening situation."

Alex interrupted her there.

"I\'m sorry, Mrs. Bellemare. I… I can\'t promise that. If she comes along, her life will be just as much at stake as ours. The best I can promise you is that she will never be directly in the line of fire…"

There was a pause before Katherine sighed heavily.

"Fine. That\'ll be enough. But, I\'ll add another condition."

Alex frowned.

"Don\'t give me that face, young man," Katherine reacted, making Alex nervous.

\'Where is she seeing me from?\'

"I can see the wheels spinning in your head. It doesn\'t matter how I see you. Stay on topic."

Alex clicked his tongue. He hated having his privacy violated like this.

But he was well aware of how good of a hacker Katherine was. There was nothing he could hide from her if she chose to look into his life.

"Fine. What condition?"

"I\'ll be your eyes and ears. I don\'t need to be with you physically, but I will be in control of which hell hole you drop yourselves and my daughter in. And if I find one too dangerous, I won\'t let you go. Understood?"

Alex wasn\'t liking that someone else would be in control of who they helped. This felt like another hoop he would have to jump through.

But could he really say no to her? Would he be able to rope Richard on board if he said no to her?

Or would Jack be able to offer what she was offering?

It was a tough decision, and one he wasn\'t willing to make on his own.

"I would have t—" he started saying.

"Alright. That sounds reasonable," Kary cut him.

"Smart woman," Katherine said, her tone mocking.

Alex looked at Kary with a \'What the hell?\' face. But Kary ignored his look.

"But I would like to add a condition of my own."

There was another pause.

"And that would be?"

"I agree that Violette shouldn\'t be put in danger against her will. That would be horrible of us. And I agree that certain situations would be better to ignore or let locals handle. But I want you to consider our input on them.

"I\'m sure you understand the advantage we have on our side if you listened to that conversation. Some situations will require us to act, regardless of the danger it puts us in. And I know you want Violette to stay safe. But I want you to let her decide for herself whether she follows us on those crawls."

The following pause was heavy, and the atmosphere shifted.

"You want me to listen to the whims of a nearly ten-year-old girl? Do you think what you just asked makes any sense?" Katherine said, her tone shaking with anger.

But Kary knew her anger stemmed from worry.

"You underestimate your daughter, Mrs. Bellemare. Violette has proved to many people, both in and out of New Eden, that she is a force to be reckoned with. She is far stronger than her age lets on. Let her choose whether she should help or not."

Alex could feel the conversation was slipping down a slippery slope. So he decided to butt in.

"Katherine. How about we prove you Violette can take care of herself? Would that allow her the freedom to pick her battles? Your daughter is strong. Much stronger than many people. And she can make a difference if you let her."

Ten seconds passed, with not but a peep, until a loud sigh was heard.

"Fine. You have twenty-four hours to come up with a way to prove that she is strong enough to be trusted with her own safety. We\'ll talk then."

Alex wanted to thank her, but the line abruptly cut.

"Hey, at least she\'s giving her a chance…" Alex said, trying to cheer himself up.